Tony Blair has offered to advise the new president of Egypt, who came to power in a military coup, on how to boost his country’s economy.

The former prime minister is understood to have offered to set up meetings on an informal basis to help the government of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attract international investment.

But as the move was attacked by one of Mr Blair’s former allies, Mr Blair was partying with wife Cherie with Labour friends in central London.

Tony Blair has offered to advise the new president of Egypt on how to boost his country's economy, it emerged last night, as the former Prime Minister joined wife Cherie at a party in central London

LGBT Labour hosted a #ThanksMichael event at The Grand Connaught Rooms in Holborn to pay tribute to former MEP Michael Cashman (centre right).
The event was hosted by long-term friends and fellow campaigners Lisa Power and Simon Fanshawe who founded Stonewall

Critics said said Mr Blair should not have any involvement with a regime estimated to have killed more than 2,500 protesters and jailed 20,000 in the past year, especially given his role as Middle East peace envoy.

Last month in a blow to free speech, three journalists from Al-Jazeera English service were jailed for seven years on a charge of ‘spreading false news’ – for criticising the government.

Neither Mr Blair nor his organisations are being paid, and his office denies claims that his involvement is a formal role, or aimed at creating lucrative ‘business opportunities’.

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But he has offered to ‘galvanise support’ for aid to the Egyptian government.

The programme he is said to be involved with is being funded by the oil-rich United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and run by management consultancy Strategy&, an arm of PwC, which has an office in Cairo.

Mr Blair supported the coup by former army chief General al-Sisi last July – which removed the elected president Mohamed Morsi after four days of mass rioting by protesters calling for him to step down.

Simon Fanshawe, Cherie and Tony Blair were all smiles at the party last night

Mr Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, had won Egypt’s election the previous summer, 18 months after the uprising which deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak after 30 years.

A former close associate of Mr Blair told the Guardian newspaper his involvement with the Sisi regime would cause ‘terrible damage to him, the rest of us and New Labour’s legacy’.

The associate added: ‘It’s a very lucrative business model but he shouldn’t be doing it. He’s putting himself in hock to a regime that imprisons journalists.’

It was claimed in the Guardian that correspondence from Mr Blair’s office in Egypt about the initiative suggests it would lead to ‘business opportunities’ in both Egypt and the Gulf. But this was denied by his office yesterday.

The former prime minister is said to have offered to set up informal meetings to
help the government of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who came to power in a
military coup

Alastair Campbell, Mr Blair’s former spin chief, is advising the Egyptian government on its public image and being paid for it, as is Darren Murphy, who worked for Mr Blair in No 10.

Mr Blair’s spokesman said: ‘Tony Blair is not a formal adviser to Sisi. He has simply said that it is vital for Egypt, the region and the world that the new president and his government succeed in reforming their country and taking it to a better future and that the international community supports them in doing so.

‘He has said this publicly on a number of occasions and also stated he would be happy to help galvanise that support if he can… neither Tony Blair, nor any of his organisations have any commercial interest in Egypt, nor are they seeking business in Egypt, nor have they ever discussed doing business in Egypt.’